Mr. Bender goes to NASA

In late August, Mr. Dave Bender, Earth Sciences / Astronomy teacher at Penn Manor High School, will be participating in NASAs annual Desert Research And Technology Studies (Desert RATS) exploration exercise along with NASA scientist and Penn Manor alumnus Dr. Jacob Bleacher (’96). Mr. Bender will be part of the Science Operations Team in Mission Control at Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, while Dr. Bleacher will serve as a Desert RATS crew member as the team tests exploration concepts among the deserts and volcanoes of northern Arizona.

After arriving back at school a major component of his work will be teaming with Mr. William Yarnell in an educational outreach program which will bring real-time NASA work into the classroom.